Entries Tagged 'Business & Marketing' ↓

If you’re adding a bathroom in your basement you’ll want to make sure to include a basement toilet installation in your plans. Adding a bathroom in the basement is a great way to give the people in your home more space to get ready in. Having an extra toilet available for people who have large families is always a welcomed addition. You can find toilets and sinks in matching colors available at most home improvement stores.

If you don’t know how to install plumbing you could ask at the store for the instructions on basement toilet installation. You want to make sure the toilet is connected and sealed properly to avoid any future mishaps that might occur. A well planned bathroom will provide years of added use for the entire family.

How Much Fraud Is There In The USA

About five years ago, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a statistical survey that about 25 million adult were victims of fraud. This is 11.2% of the adult population. In 2009, there was a reported 48.7 million incidences. Fraud is on the rise and fraudsters are laughing all the way to the bank, so as to speak.

The federal Trade Commission recently released a survey of the top types of fraud in the United States for 2009. Below are some of the most prevalent scams that are currently being targeted at US citizens.

1)    Bogus weight loss products

It is ironical that in many cases the consumers of these products actually gained more weight than they had initially before using these products. The FTC registered more than 8 million cases of fraud involving weight-loss products that didn’t work.

2)    Business opportunity fraud

The FTC says that over 6 million people were victims of business opportunity scams. These mostly came in work-at-home opportunities that were unworkable.

3)    Buyers club fraud

Buyers clubs promise great deals on products and services. But then the consumer realizes that they have been charged for membership even though they never agreed to join

4)    Foreign lottery fraud

Originally, these scams simply proclaimed that you are a winner in a major foreign lottery but in order to receive your prize, you had to submit an “administration fee” to cover processing charges. Nowadays, they have invented new tricks; they send to you a fake cheque with the winning amount then instruct you to send a cheque of lesser amount to cover taxes. It’s like trading a real cheque with a fake one.

5)    Credit card fraud

Statistics show that over $2.8 million was lost due to credit card fraud.

These are just the top five in terms of numbers of people affected. There is so much more fraud in the form of tax evasion, money laundering and creditor fraud. Everyone and every business or organisation is a target. Thinking that you wouldn’t get scammed would be like standing in the middle of the NASCAR race track and expect not to end up in some cars under-carriage! It is true when they say if an offer seems too good to be true then it is most certainly too good to be true.

Let me guess.  You’ve got a new website that’s going to make you millions.  (Or at least, several.)  You’re pretty proud of yourself – as well you should be – but you have no idea how to get the word out about your phenomenal site.  Then you hear about Google’s great humanitarian effort to allow people like you to get a name in the great, wide world of search engines – submit to Google!

…Or really?  Is submitting a website to Google really going to solve all your problems?  Or even just the online ones?  (Because, really, nobody could expect Google to mow your lawn for you.)

Really, it should make sense.  Unfortunately, if you want to learn to make money online, you may want to leave Google Submit behind you.  In theory, it should work.  In practice, Google notoriously takes far too long to get a website indexed and up on its search engine result pages.  In the time it takes Google to pay attention to your submission, you can probably get your page up on their search pages on your own.

See, Google’s web crawler (the GoogleBot) works like other search engine web crawlers.  They follow the links on existing sites to find new, useful sites.  When new links show up that lead these crawlers to your site, you’re in the club! That means that, really, it’s just as easy to get your site up the old-fashioned way as it is to submit to Google.  If your site has good, useful information on it, chances are pretty good that somebody out there is going to cite you and post a link.

Even if nobody knows you exist yet, don’t give up hope.  By following other sites, you can get in touch with other relevant sites and direct them to your site.  You can also find relevant sites that will let you post little cameo articles – but be careful not to spam your way into a search engine.  Such sites have been banned in the past.

There is a somewhat heated debate among restaurant owners and managers at times regarding their menu covers.  You might think that this seemingly insignificant item could create such a stir, but it does.  And, for good reason.  You see, the cover to your menu not only just protects it and serves all those functional purposes, but it also represents more to your guests than that.  What they feel when that good quality menu is in their hands is what you have going into your restaurant.  They will appreciate this fact just by holding your menu in their hands, it is one of those unspoken communication messages.

What is this message all about?  To begin with, let’s not lose sight of the fact that people coming to dine with you want an experience.  They don’t want to simply come in, eat something fast and jet out of your place back to their normal routines.  Sure, if you have a pizza joint or sandwich shop, this is great.  And, for that matter, these places deserve a plastic menu cover for the more functional aspects they serve.  In a place like that, you are not necessarily looking to create any type of ambiance or feeling, you are there to provide food or nourishment, not a dining experience.

The message about which we are speaking is that of consistency.  What is the impression that someone has throughout their visit or experience with you at your restaurant?  This is the ultimate question.  This is one that will help you to not only define your establishment, but keep you profitable and happy for years to come as a business owner.  Your guests’ impressions begin the moment they step into your restaurant.  It may even happen before this if they have called first.  Certainly, once they enter, the judgment meter is running.  While they may not be looking for things to criticize, they will be forming internal opinions along the way.  Having a consistent message along the way will keep their expectations in check and in line with your goals of providing a great experience.

Back to the menu.  So, when it finally comes time for your guests to be seated, what will you hand them?  Hopefully, you will provide them with something that they can have a nice feeling about.  Again, we are talking about a different kind of restaurant than your average mom and pop place.  A classic feeling, heavy leather menu cover is a great impression.  No matter what type of food you are serving, if you hand someone one of these, they will be forced to comment on it.  Not only that, it gives us the impression of quality and taste.  Aren’t these the types of qualities you want your food to conjure up?  Of course.  Now, there are contemporary menu covers that incorporate metal as well.  You could get a great looking copper menu cover with a patina that is really one of a kind.  Will these menu covers replace having great food, no.  Will they assist you in creating a great impression of your food before they even take a bite?  You bet.  For more, you can visit MenuCoverInfo.com.

Are you or anyone you know is planning to install hardwood floors? Are you aware of the costs involved in such a small task? If not, it is best to find out before getting this task under way. To find this, it is wise to search through your local phone book to find a hardwood floor installation specialist. Getting estimates is very important because you need to know much to spend. Also, you should get a second or even a third opinion. Luckily, most hardwood floor people offer free or low-cost estimates – a deal to take advantage of. Other factors in this process is the length, type and sturdiness of the flooring itself. The harder and longer it is, the more costly it will be for you.

A handicap shower seat is a great solution for anyone who may be unsteady on their feet, or unable to stand at all, giving them the power to take a shower confidently and without assistance from others. Handicap showers seats are usually adjustable and can hold weights of about 250 pounds or more. They are made from materials that are resistant to water damage which make them a sound investment. Whether a person is elderly, has trouble standing, or is recovering from surgery, they can enjoy the benefits of a handicap shower seat has to offer. However, a person doesn’t have to be disabled to enjoy them. Many people will use them simply because they feel more comfortable sitting down while showering. You should definitely look into handicap shower seats.

A mutual fund does not fit in the back of a pickup truck, get added to a credit card for future use, or saved onto your hard drive.  The word load simply means fee.  Payment for the guy selling it to you.  Many times it will be told that all of the best mutual funds have loads because they are worth it.  However, where do you think the sales commissions come from?  The no load mutual fund says to me that we are so efficient we will make are money off the small yearly fee, we don’t need extra money up front or fancy sales people pushing are worth.  Look at the returns of the fund regardless of the upfront fees and decide which is best for you.

After you have confirmed that the name is available for your LLC, you’ll need to complete articles of organization. This can be done quite simply with a one-page LLC form. You should be able to find this form as a sample template on your state website. If you have problems locating this form, you can just Google it and you’ll find a hundred examples that you can mirror. Completing this portion of the limited liability formation process shouldn’t take more than an hour. After you are done completing the form (some states have these forms online in electronic form) then you’ll need to file them with your state and get their stamp of approval. Once they have approved your articles of organization then you are ready to go to the next step.

When buying an already existing vending route, keep in mind that you are essentially paying for the value of the vending machines only. Yes, the machine locations have value, but only the value that can be 100% verified. And trust me when I say this, in most cases, the income can’t not be verified with 100% certainty. If the seller can produce valid tax returns showing income earned this would definitely work, but NO seller is going to be able to produce these records. Instead, they’ll tell you what they’re earning and you have to separate the fact from the fiction. Do not believe what the seller says under any circumstances. This is why when pricing a vending route, only the value of the vending machines is considered when determining a price.

Secured loans are the cornerstone of the modern financial system. The ability for a lender to advance funds in return for a charge over specified collateral has revolutionized finance. The ability, furthermore, to package these loans as securitized tranches of bonds was a key force in credit creation from the 1970s onwards. The credit crisis from 2007-9 and the temporary ice age in the asset-backed securities market only demonstrated that healthy lending is essential to economic growth.

The concept of secured loans originated in medieval Italy, although until legal systems were robust enough to enforce moneylenders’ security the market was necessarily imperfect. The rise of the joint stock corporation and the advent of limited liability in the nineteenth century saw the inexorable rise of secured lending. British Prime Minister Gladstone famously invaded Egypt, it was rumoured, to enforce security when the Egyptian government defaulted on its Suez canal bonds.

Today banks will typically take a charge over a residential property as collateral for unsecured loans. Secured financing should theoretically offer lower borrowing costs than unsecured, provided that the ability to execute the collateral is effective in the relevant jurisdiction. Indeed the ability of banks, many ironically supported by government funding programs, to foreclose on residential properties has caused significant political controversy, as well as the quintessentially American phenomenon of “jingle mail”.

With any secured loan, the lending bank will employ a range of methodologies to assess customer credit risk, ranging from requiring proof of identity to checks with credit bureaux to aggregated analysis on proprietary statistical scorecards. Famously, many statistical models intended to accurately predict loss and delinquency came unstuck once the asset bubble of 2002-2007 ended and the Case-Shiller property price index declined for the first time in American history. The sub-prime credit losses endured by the banks and the ensuing closure of the asset backed securities markets proved that secured loans only work as a concept when supported by strong underwriting standards and robust origination criteria.

photo credit: Rachel Strohm